Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 26, 2004

Being Pharaoh has its perks, but it also means you’ve got a lot more to worry about. Take your legacy, for instance. For regular folks, a clearly legible headstone with their name spelled correctly is enough, but if you’re a god-king, you’ve got to have the best tomb around, bar none. I mean, do you want to be remembered through the ages like King Tut, or be swept away with the sands of time like old what’s-his-name – you know, the one with the cat? If you’re like most of us, even knowing the additional pressures borne by near-deity wouldn’t keep you from shucking off your company branded shirt to switch places with any one of Egypt’s ancient hierarchy. With desire fully in place, the biggest problem is finding a job opening as Pharaoh. Thanks to developer Tilted Mill, there’s a position that’s just come open so you can take a swing at being a god-king in Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile. Let’s cut into it and see if it’s one for the ages.

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Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 19, 2004

When it comes to World War II games, the Nazis are a great default antagonist, however, the aggression of Japanese forces in the War to End All Wars hasn’t been as thoroughly explored. Hitler and his cronies do make good target practice, but neglecting Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku leaves a lot of untouched acreage that’s rich with stories and dramatic possibilities. In the latest outing of its acclaimed Medal of Honor series, Electronic Arts has started to plow the fertile soil of the WWII Pacific Theater in Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 12, 2004

There’s a very old saying that a man’s home is his castle. If this is true, then what’s wrong with adopting the feudal system, declaring war on the next door neighbor, and leading a crusade to incorporate his pool and barbecue pit into your own kingdom? Somehow, no matter how well you plan your offensive, that type of campaign always backfires in this modern day. Fortunately, we can turn our primitive needs for conquest and pillaging to our computers in titles like Castle Strike from developer Related Design. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 5, 2004

Fans of adventure games are a hearty lot. They withstand the slings and arrows of high-profile cancellations and bear the scars from a long list of disappointing offerings, yet they always come back for more. With Atlantis: Evolution, developer Atlantis Interactive hopes to salve the pains of this intrepid group by immersing them in a tour of the titular fabled sunken city. Come with us and we’ll tell you if the trip is worthwhile. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: Oct. 27, 2004

When developer Dynamix gasped its last breath, there was speculation that the venerable Tribes series had been buried with its creator. Fortunately, it’s hard to keep a good license down. Developer Irrational Games (the folks behind System Shock 2) was able to pick up where Dynamix left off and has recently delivered Tribes: Vengeance to a store near you. Let’s see if this new offering can fill the ski boots of the revered original. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: October 14, 2004

Medieval: Total War set the high water mark for a lot of strategy enthusiasts, so developer Creative Assembly had their work cut out for them when designing a follow up. In its newest offering, Creative Assembly has shifted focus from Europe’s antiquity to the blood-stained fields of ancient Rome in Rome: Total War. Let’s get our hands dirty and see if this most recent addition of Total War belongs in your library. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: September 30, 2004

If your first project set German speaking pigs bent on kicking the stuffing out of vaguely French bunnies in S.W.I.N.E., what do you do for an encore? You take on the only thing bigger – the war to end all wars. Choosing the more traditional setting of World War II for their sophomore outing, Hungarian developer Stormregion created the real-time strategy game, Codename: Panzers – Phase One. This title has been available in Europe for a couple months and now it’s set to take the United States by storm. Let’s see if it’s worth the wait. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: September 16, 2004

Alpha Black Zero: Intrepid Protocol is the brainchild of first-time developer Khaeon, based in the Netherlands. The game is set in the year 2366, a time of far reaching space exploration. You play Lt. Kyle Hardlaw, the leader of the Alpha Black Zero strike team. Covert groups like Alpha Black Zero are used by the ruling authority, SolGov, to put down uprisings of two militant factions: the Troglo-Imperialists and the Black Cartels. When we join Lt. Hardlaw, he is facing a military court martial for the murder of almost 100 SolGov civil servants after his team is sent to put down an insurrection. Alpha Black Zero‘s missions are presented in flashback, taking you through the events leading up to the court martial. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: August 27, 2004

Since the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis hit the streets in 2001, Paradox Entertainment has been busy trying to sate their fans’ hunger for more. They’ve been working hard, too; Crusader Kings is the seventh Paradox title that uses the Europa Universalis engine. Other offerings in the series have taken on world wars and famous leaders like Joan of Arc and Napoleon Bonaparte, but Crusader Kings is the first Paradox game to reach back as far as the Middle Ages and to let fans get their hands in the Christian Crusades. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: August 17, 2004

While not critically acclaimed, Zoo Tycoon struck a chord with a broad cross-section of gamers. Despite its publicized shortcomings, Zoo Tycoon and its expansion packs have been right near Maxis’ legendary The Sims on the top-selling PC game charts since their debut. Now Enlight Software is putting its best four feet forward to give Zoo Tycoon a run for its money with Zoo Empire. Let’s dig in and see if it’s something over which to go ape. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: August 6, 2004

With all of the advancements in technology today, it’s strange that more of the games we play don’t try to engage us in ways other than the primary software. There have been some forays “outside the box,” with Electronic Art’s defunct Majestic being the most notable. Even though Majestic‘s implementation stumbled, other developers have failed to explore the possibilities it opened up – until now. Trying to succeed where Majestic failed, French developer Lexis Numerique brings us the murder mystery, Missing: Since January. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: July 30, 2004

Being a real-time strategy game developer has to be one of the hardest jobs around. With so many titles competing for consumers, it takes the ingenuity of Daedalus to create something that stands out from the crowd and the wisdom of Solomon to bring all the pieces into balance so that the end product is fun to play. Even worse, your audience expects games in the genre to adhere to certain principals, but at the same time doesn’t want to be bored with the same experience. So what do you do if you want to step outside the boundaries of convention? That’s the question developer K-D Lab set out to answer with Perimeter.

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Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: July 27, 2004

When I hear stories of genuine heroism, I can’t help wondering what I would do in the protagonist’s position. I would like to think I’d be the first one to step forward for that dangerous assignment or to jump into shark-infested waters to save someone. In reality, I run away like a ten-year-old girl when there’s a spider in the room, so purposely going where bullets would be flying at my head is pretty well out of the question. Fortunately I have video games to safely place me in situations where I showcase what little bravery and selflessness I do possess. Recalling some instances of heroism from the Second World War, developer Best Way has created a real-time strategy title called Soldiers: Heroes of World War II.

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Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: July 17, 2004

There are those who say there won’t be any more global wars. If Tom Clancy’s idea of the future is to be believed, we’ll always be on the brink of utter annihilation, but by using small groups of highly trained soldiers in secret operations, world powers will avoid another all-out conflict. Pulling on this idea, developer Wings Simulations brings us Soldner: Secret Wars. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: July 9, 2004

When I was about ten, my parents bought me a length of orange track, complete with loop and jump sections, for my small collection of Matchbox cars. I spent hours finding new ways to configure it so I could force the little metal models through courses of ever increasing endurance and terror no mortal would be able to withstand. Only when the track had been assembled and disassembled so often that the pieces wouldn’t fit together smoothly anymore did I finally hang up my pursuit of the perfectly insane Matchbox run. Trying to rekindle my affection for automotive anarchy, French developer Nadeo has introduced TrackMania.

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